MISSING OUR COMMUNITY

Missing you all and missing our community!

Kristiann is reaching out with online yoga - yea!

So, with the current situation, I think it is valuable for us to use yoga to help our physical as well as mental health. For me, my mind has been hyperactive with thoughts about ---everything - it seems. Lot's of worry, concern, anxiety, etc.

Our immune system is linked with the lymph system which needs movement to distribute the white blood cells through the body. Yoga asanas (the third limb of yoga) are a fantastic way to move the body through the three planes of movement: sagittal (forward and backward), coronal (lateral bends side to side) and transverse (twisting). Let's all do some of this every day to keep the virus at bay!

Mental health is also very important. This is where other limbs of yoga can help. The fifth limb of yoga is pratyahara - quieting of the five senses. Plug in some earplugs, close your eyes and sit quietly for 5 minutes. Let your mind wander on whatever it wants to - focus on smells. Feel the cool air entering your nose and the warm air leaving. Now focus on your breath (the fourth limb of yoga). Start deepening your breath. Hold for a couple counts at the top of the inhale and bottom of the exhale. Breath deep. Count back from 27 - each inhale being a count. The number 27 is a factor of 108 - the "magical number". If you are bored - google the number 108 significance.

As you sit quietly, focusing on your breath, voila, you are practicing the sixth and seventh limbs of yoga - concentration and meditation.

All limbs of yoga are in service of quieting the fluctuations of the mind - sutra 1.2. Certainly my mind could use a good dose of quiet right now.

And let's not forget the first two limbs - yamas and niyamas. These are about how you treat others and how you treat yourself. Spend some time (now that we all seem to have some time to spare) googling yamas and niyamas for a self-lesson.

Ok - stand up right now, hands over your head, bend left, bend right. Hands to heart center, hinge at the hips, bend forward. Stand straight up, arms out to sides, twist. You did it - all three planes of movement - keep going!